AFT on 2016 National Assessment of Educational Progress Report on Eighth-Graders’ Music and Visual Arts Skills

WASHINGTON—Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the 2016 NAEP report on eighth-graders’ music and visual arts skills, which found no significant changes since the 2008 report:

“Music and visual arts should be considered core subjects; they are vital to children’s well-being and academic achievement. The arts enable children to think creatively and critically and are a gateway for many students to actually engage in schooling. Research has shown that schools with music programs have improved attendance and graduation rates, while arts programs have helped raise student achievement.

“While the NAEP report shows that Hispanic students have improved in music and visual arts over the last eight years, that low-income students have shown gains in visual arts, and that overall eighth-graders’ skills have held steady, the real news here is that the arts matter, and matter big time. That’s why the decade-long minimization of arts education because of austerity and accountability based on math and English tests must be reversed. Yet the Trump administration is making matters worse, with proposals to eliminate funding for before- and after-school and summer programs and ending federal funding of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, all of which have public education components. Marginalizing the arts is wrong and will prevent our children from growing up as well-educated, well-rounded citizens.”